It was a sunny howdy from half a dozen Scotties who descended on the world-famous Hampstead Heath in north London on Saturday 18 January 2020.

In our New Year walk, organised for the first time by meeting marshall Sonya Weiss, the Scotties did a circle of Hampstead Heath including one of its ponds. It was also the first walk by the London Scottie Club in Hampstead.

The weather could not have been better. Sunny, bright, and not windy. Although a bit soggy in places the Scotties didn’t mind and made full use of the conditions, to which some of our photos in our gallery below testify.

It is always a thrill to welcome new members, such as Carol with Edith from Chelsea. Having met at Kenwood House the group took in the famous skyline of London panorama. You know the one which seems to be in endless commercials for computer software or adverts from property developers in London.

At one of the ponds, a HH warden jumped out of the car and we all got worried that one of the Scotties had done something naughty. As the lady approached us, she said she had to stop the car and greet us. She used to have a Scottie and Westie. She told us how when her Westie died at the advanced age of 18 years, the black Scottie could not cope. The Scottie died a few weeks afterwards of a broken heart, aged just 11 years.

It was a very challenging moment for all of us listening to this story as we all know that the rascals also have a sensitive heart and loss can affect them profoundly. None of us was ready to hear this story, but we offered our understanding to the warden. It was a very important reflection and one that came from a chance meeting.

After the walk we received reports of plenty of zonked Scotties resting at home!

We thank Sonya for her first-ever London Scottie Club meeting and for choosing a very nice location. In fact, given the skyline of London that we marveled, it perhaps better than any image sums up what the club is about – uniting the Scotties of London.

Here follows a gallery of our photos, taken by the various club members who attended.